Safety scheme for gesture-based game

ABSTRACT

Technologies are generally described for providing a notification to a player playing a gesture-based game of a potentially dangerous condition. In some examples, a safety component of a gesture-based game system includes a gesture range determination unit configured to determine a gesture range associated with a gesture-based game; a detection unit configured to detect a movement of an object; and an alarm unit configured to generate an alarm in response to a determination based on the movement of the object which is within the gesture range.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is the National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. §371 ofPCT Application Ser. No. PCT/KR11/04855 filed on Jul. 1, 2011.

BACKGROUND

Camera technology and gesture recognition technology have experiencedphenomenal growth in the last few years. Game devices have adopted suchtechnologies. For example, a game device may recognize a gesture of aplayer using a camera and use the recognized gesture of the player as aninput signal for playing a game. Game software developers have developedvarious types of gesture-based games for such game devices. Players canplay the gesture-based games using their gestures (without using akeypad-type input device). There are, however, drawbacks to suchgesture-based games. For example, a player of a gesture-based game maybecome engrossed in the game to the extent that the player fails torecognize an obstacle around the player or a spectator, a pet or anotherplayer approaching the player. In such cases, due to the player'sdrastic movements while engrossed in playing the game, collisionsbetween the player and the obstacle or the spectator, pet or otherplayer may occur.

SUMMARY

In an example, an apparatus comprises a gesture range determination unitconfigured to determine a gesture range associated with a gesture-basedgame, a detection unit configured to detect a movement of an object, andan alarm unit configured to generate an alarm in response to adetermination based on the movement of the object which is within thegesture range.

In an example, a method comprises determining a gesture range associatedwith a gesture-based game, detecting a movement of an object duringplaying of the gesture-based game, determining that the object has movedinto the gesture range during the playing of the gesture-based game andgenerating an alert in response to the determining that the object movedinto the gesture range during the playing of the gesture-based game.

In an example, a computer-readable storage medium has stored thereoncomputer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause asystem to perform operations, comprising determining a gesture range ofa player of a gesture-based game, detecting a position of an object in avicinity of the player during playing of the gesture-based game, andgenerating an alert in response to determining that the position of theobject is within the gesture range.

In an example, a system, comprises means for determining a gesture rangeof a player associated with a gesture-based game, means for determiningthat an object is located within the gesture range during playing of thegesture-based game, and means for generating an alert in response to anoutput from the means for determining indicating that the object islocated within the gesture range.

In an example, an apparatus comprises an identification unit configuredto identify a type of a gesture-based game, a gesture rangedetermination unit configured to determine a gesture range based on thetype of the gesture-based game, and a detection unit configured todetect a movement of an object relative to the gesture range.

In an example, a method comprises identifying an identity of agesture-based game being played on a gesture-based game system,determining a gesture range of a player associated with thegesture-based game based on the identity of the gesture-based game, andwarning the player with at least one of a visual alert or an auditoryalert in response to detecting a location of an object within thegesture range.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The foregoing and other features of this disclosure will become morefully apparent from the following description and appended claims, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with thedisclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of itsscope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity anddetail through use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically shows an illustrative example of an environmentwhere a player is playing a gesture-based game and a spectator iswatching the playing of the game in the vicinity of the player;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of asafety component of a gesture-based game system;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating another example of asafety component of a gesture-based game system;

FIG. 4 schematically shows illustrative examples of determining agesture range;

FIG. 5 schematically shows an illustrative example of detecting amovement of a spectator;

FIG. 6 schematically shows illustrative examples of updating a gesturerange;

FIG. 7 shows an example flow diagram of a process for generating analarm based on a gesture range and a movement of an object;

FIG. 8 shows an example flow diagram of a process for updating a gesturerange based on a tracked motion of a player;

FIG. 9 shows an example flow diagram of a process for warning a playerin response to detecting an object within a gesture range;

FIG. 10 illustrates a computer program product that can be utilized toprovide a safety scheme for a gesture-based game; and

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing device thatcan be utilized to provide a safety scheme for a gesture-based game,

all arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented herein. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which areexplicitly contemplated herein.

This disclosure is generally drawn, inter alia, to methods, apparatus,systems, devices, and computer program products related to a safetytechnique for gesture-based games.

Briefly stated, technologies are generally described for providing anotification to a player playing a gesture-based game of a potentiallydangerous condition, such as when the player might strike a person orobject by making a command gesture. In some examples, an alarm or alertis provided to a player playing a gesture-based game when an objectmoves into or comes within a player's gesture range during the playingof the gesture-based game. The object may come within a player's gesturerange as a result of the object's movement, the player's movement, or acombination of both. Although the technology will be described herein asbeing implemented on or by a safety component of a gesture-based gamesystem, in some embodiments, the technology may be implemented by agesture-based game, other components of a gesture-based game system, orcombinations thereof.

In some examples, during a training stage prior to a start of play, thesafety component of a gesture-based game system may identify agesture-based game being played and determine a player's gesture rangeby mapping a range of the player's gestures. In some examples, themapping may be of a player's gestures (command gestures) in theside-to-side and front-to-back directions. The gesture range can beassociated with a particular player, and may be stored for referenceduring the playing of the game. In some examples, the gesture range maybe associated with the particular player's face, game playeridentification (ID), game player avatar, or any other game playeridentification or characteristic. The safety component may determine thegesture ranges of other players in a similar manner.

In some examples, the gesture range may depend on the type ofgesture-based game. For example, a gesture-based game that requiressmall player gestures (such as a car racing game where a player is notrequired to move much or make large gestures to play the game) willtypically have smaller gesture ranges for its players when compared to agesture-based game that requires larger player gestures (such as atennis game where a player may make large movements and gestures to playthe game). The gesture range may also depend on a player'scharacteristics, such as physical attributes (for example, height,length of arms, etc.), gender, game playing traits (for example, oneplayer may make larger or more violent movements when playing a game ascompared to another player who may make smaller or gentler movementswhen playing the same game), or any other characteristic that may beused to determine the player's gesture range.

When an object moves into or comes within a player's gesture rangeduring play, the safety component may generate an alarm or alert tonotify the player of a dangerous condition. The alarm or alert may be anaudio alarm from a speaker of the gesture-based game system, or a visualalarm presented on a display of the gesture-based game system, or otherlight emission. In some examples, the safety component may stopexecution (play) of the gesture-based game when an object moves into orcomes within a player's gesture range during play.

In some examples, a player's gesture range may be determined by scalingthe player's range of motion to the gestures in the command set for theparticular gesture-based game. In some examples, the gesture range maybe updated during the playing of the gesture-based game. Here, a safetycomponent may track the movement and/or motions of a player during playof the gesture-based game and update the gesture range accordingly.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an illustrative example of an environmentwhere a player is playing a gesture-based game and a spectator iswatching the playing of the game in the vicinity of the player, arrangedin accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. Asdepicted in FIG. 1, a player 150 may play a gesture-based game using agesture-based game system 100. The gesture-based game may be played byrecognizing a gesture of player 150. By way of example, but notlimitation, the gesture-based game may include a dancing game, a boxinggame, a golf game, and the like.

In some embodiments, gesture-based game system 100 may include a gameconsole 110, a camera 120, a display 130 and a speaker 140. Game console110 may execute a gesture-based game. Although illustrated as discretecomponents, various components of gesture-based game system 100 may bedivided into additional components, combined into fewer components, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation.

Game console 110 may be configured to run or execute the gesture-basedgame. By way of example, but not limitation, when player 150 inserts agame, such as, but not limited to, a compact disk (CD) or a game digitalversatile disk (DVD), of the gesture-based game into game console 110,game console 110 may start executing the gesture-based game.

Camera 120 may be configured to detect or recognize a person within apredetermined detectable area and recognize the person as player 150 ofthe game run or executed by game console 110. Camera 120 may be one of aset of input devices of gesture-based game system 100. In someembodiments, camera 120 may detect a movement of player 150 and transmitthe detected movement, as an electrical signal, to game console 110. Byway of example, but not limitation, camera 120 may include a depthcamera, or any other imaging devices which can identify player 150and/or recognize his/her gestures.

Display 130 may be configured to display the gesture-based game. In someembodiments, display 130 may display a game character, which makesgestures in the gesture-based game that follow gestures that player 150makes. By way of example, but not limitation, if camera 120 detects aforward movement of player 150, a game character on display 130 may alsobe displayed as being moved forward, and if camera 120 detects an upwardmovement of an arm of player 150, an arm of the game character ondisplay 130 may also be displayed as being moved upward. Thus, player150 may move in a certain direction or move a specific part of the bodyin a certain direction while watching his/her own game characterdisplayed on display 130. By way of example, display 130 may include,but is not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma displaypanel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) backlight display device, orany other display device.

Speaker 140 is one of a set of output devices of gesture-based gamesystem 100. Speaker 140 may output background music or sound effects ofthe gesture-based game as the game proceeds. Speaker 140 may be providedas a part of display 130 as shown in FIG. 1 or as a separate device.

Game console 110 in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein may include a safety component (not shown) configured to preventa collision between player 150 and an object or another person. In someembodiments, the safety component may detect an object such as aspectator 160 other than player 150. In some embodiments, if there is arisk of a collision between player 150 and spectator 160 during theplaying of the game, the safety component may inform player 150 and/orspectator 160 of the risk. By way of example, but not limitation, ifplayer 150 cannot recognize spectator 160 in the vicinity of player 150while looking at only display 130 displaying the game or if spectator160 unconsciously moves near player 150 to get a better view of display130 displaying the game, the safety component may inform player 150 andspectator 160 of a possibility of a collision between player 150 andspectator 160 beforehand, thereby preventing such a collision. Inaddition to avoiding a collision with spectator 160, embodiments alsoinclude avoiding a collision with a pet in the room, or with anotherplayer of the gesture-based game. A configuration of the safetycomponent will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of asafety component for a gesture-based game provided by gesture-based gamesystem 100, arranged in accordance with at least some embodimentsdescribed herein. As depicted, a safety component 200 may include anidentification unit 210, a gesture range determination unit 220, adetection unit 230, and an alarm unit 240. Although illustrated asdiscrete components, various components may be divided into additionalcomponents, combined into fewer components, or eliminated, depending onthe desired implementation.

Identification unit 210 may be configured to identify a gesture-basedgame which is run or executed on gesture-based game system 100. By wayof example, but not limitation, identification unit 210 may identify thegesture-based game based on information recorded in a storage mediumsuch as a CD, a DVD or a semiconductor memory which stores executioncodes of the gesture-based game.

In some embodiments, identification unit 210 may also identify player150 who plays the gesture-based game. By way of example, but notlimitation, identification unit 210 may identify player 150 based on auser ID or an avatar input to gesture-based game system 100 by player150 through an input device (not shown). By way of example, but notlimitation, the input device may include a keypad, a mouse, a touchscreen, a touchpad, a keyboard, a trackball, or a joystick. In someembodiments, identification unit 210 may also recognize a face of player150 based on a video signal received from camera 120, therebyidentifying player 150. Face recognition has been widely known to oneskilled in the art and detailed description thereof will be omittedherein.

Gesture range determination unit 220 may be configured to determine agesture range. In some embodiments, gesture range determination unit 220may determine the gesture range associated with an identifiedgesture-based game. If identification unit 210 identifies thegesture-based game, gesture range determination unit 220 may receiveinformation on the gesture-based game from identification unit 210 anddetermine a gesture range based on the received information on thegesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation, if theidentified gesture-based game requires a small gesture range (forexample, but not limited to, in case of a car racing game), thedetermined gesture range may be relatively small. Similarly, if theidentified gesture-based game requires a large gesture range (forexample, but not limited to, in case of a sports game such as a tennisgame, a boxing game, or a bowling game), the determined gesture rangemay be relatively large.

In some embodiments, an initially determined gesture range may be adefault gesture range that is associated with the identifiedgesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation, in caseswhere player 150 plays the gesture-based game for the first time, thatis, the gesture-based game is executed for player 150 for the firsttime, gesture range determination unit 220 may determine the defaultgesture range associated with the identified gesture-based game as agesture range of the executed gesture-based game.

In some embodiments, gesture range determination unit 220 may determinethe gesture range based on identified player 150. If identification unit210 identifies player 150, gesture range determination unit 220 mayreceive information on identified player 150 from identification unit210 and determine a gesture range based on the received information onplayer 150. By way of example, but not limitation, if identified player150 is short in height, the determined gesture range may be relativelysmall. Similarly, if identified player 150 is tall, the determinedgesture range may be relatively large.

In some embodiments, gesture range determination unit 220 may determinethe gesture range based on the identified gesture-based game andidentified player 150. If identification unit 210 identifies thegesture-based game and player 150, gesture range determination unit 220may receive information on the identified gesture-based game andidentified player 150 from identification unit 210 and determine agesture range based on the received information on the gesture-basedgame and player 150.

Detection unit 230 may be configured to detect a movement of an object.Herein, the object may include, for example, but not limited to, anotherperson such as spectator 160 or another player, a pet, an article or thelike other than player 150. In some embodiments, detection unit 230 maydetect a movement of spectator 160 based on a video signal received fromcamera 120. By way of example, but not limitation, detection unit 230may detect a back-and-forth movement of spectator 160 as well as anup-and-down movement and a right-and-left movement thereof as viewedfrom camera 120.

In some embodiments, detection unit 230 may detect a movement of player150 who plays the gesture-based game. By way of example, but notlimitation, detection unit 230 may detect a motion of player 150. Insome embodiments, the detected motion may be used to generate a gesturerange. Additional details in this regard will be provided below withreference to training stage unit 260.

In some embodiments, detection unit 230 may track a motion of player 150during the playing of the gesture-based game. The tracked motion may beused to update the gesture range determined by gesture rangedetermination unit 220. Additional details in this regard will beprovided below with reference to a gesture range update unit 270.

Alarm unit 240 may be configured to generate an alarm upon, or inresponse to, a determination that spectator 160 is within the determinedgesture range. By way of example, but not limitation, alarm unit 240 maydetermine whether or not the movement of spectator 160 detected bydetection unit 230 is within the gesture range determined by gesturerange determination unit 220. If alarm unit 240 determines that thedetected movement of spectator 160 is within the determined gesturerange, alarm unit 240 may generate an alarm. By way of example, but notlimitation, if the position of spectator 160 moves from the outside ofthe determined gesture range to the inside of the determined gesturerange, alarm unit 240 may generate an alarm.

In some embodiments, alarm unit 240 may send a visible alarm message tobe displayed on display 130, so that player 150 and/or spectator 160 cansee the alarm message displayed on display 130 and pay attention toprevent a collision. Further, alarm unit 240 may send an audible alarmmessage to be output through speaker 140, so that player 150 and/orspectator 160 can hear the alarm message output through speaker 140 andpay attention to prevent a collision. Additional details regarding alarmunit 240 will be provided below with reference to FIG. 5.

In some embodiments, safety component 200 may further include a memory250. In some embodiments, memory 250 may be configured to store thereina gesture range associated with the gesture-based game and/or player150. By way of example, but not limitation, the gesture range determinedby gesture range determination unit 220 may be recorded in memory 250 bygesture range determination unit 220. Further, by way of example, butnot limitation, gesture range determination unit 220 may read thegesture range associated with the gesture-based game and/or player 150from memory 250. By way of example, but not limitation, gesture rangedetermination unit 220 may determine a gesture range. Determination ofgesture range made by gesture range determination unit 220 will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

In some embodiments, safety component 200 may further include a trainingstage unit 260. In some embodiments, training stage unit 260 may beconfigured to generate a gesture range during a training stage of theidentified gesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation,training stage unit 260 may request player 150 of the gesture-based gameto make a game playing motion. By way of example, but not limitation,detection unit 230 may detect the motion made by player 150 in responseto the request. By way of example, but not limitation, if thegesture-based game is a boxing game, training stage unit 260 may send amessage to player 150 to stretch his/her arm through display 130 and/orspeaker 140. In response to this message, player 150 may stretch his/herarm. By way of example, but not limitation, camera 120 may capture animage of player 150. Then, detection unit 230 may receive the videosignal from camera 120 thereby detecting the motion made by player 150.By way of example, but not limitation, training stage unit 260 mayreceive the motion of player 150 detected by detection unit 230 andcreate a gesture range based on the received detected motion.

Further, in some embodiments, the training stage may precede the playingof the gesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation, ifplayer 150 executes the gesture-based game, identification unit 210 mayidentify the gesture-based game. Then, training stage unit 260 mayexecute the training stage associated with the identified gesture-basedgame prior to the playing of the identified gesture-based game. In thiscase, player 150 may check how the motion of stretching the arm isdisplayed on display 130 through the training stage prior to a playingof a boxing game. In some embodiments, gesture range determination unit220 may measure a motion of player 150 beforehand, so that it maygenerate a gesture range suitable for the gesture-based game and/orplayer 150.

In some embodiments, the gesture range generated by training stage unit260 may be stored in memory 250. By way of example, but not limitation,gesture range determination unit 220 may read the stored gesture rangeassociated with the gesture-based game and/or player 150 from memory 250and determine a gesture range while the gesture-based game is played.

In some embodiments, safety component 200 may further include a gesturerange update unit 270. Gesture range update unit 270 may be configuredto update the gesture range based on motion of the identified player150. By way of example, but not limitation, gesture range update unit270 may read a gesture range from memory 250. By way of example, but notlimitation, gesture range update unit 270 may update the gesture rangebased on the motion of player 150 detected by detection unit 230 and agesture range read from memory 250. If the detected motion of player 150exceeds the gesture range read from memory 250, gesture range updateunit 270 may extend the gesture range.

In some embodiments, gesture range update unit 270 may update thegesture range based on a motion of identified player 150 during aplaying of the gesture-based game by identified player 150. By way ofexample, but not limitation, if player 150 plays the gesture-based game,gesture range determination unit 220 may determine a gesture range andstore the gesture range in memory 250. By way of example, but notlimitation, detection unit 230 may detect a motion of player 150 whoplays the gesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation,gesture range update unit 270 may read the gesture range from memory 250and update the determined gesture range received from memory 250 basedon the detected motion of player 150. Further, in some embodiments,gesture range update unit 270 may store the updated gesture range inmemory 250. By way of example, but not limitation gesture rangedetermination unit 220 may read the updated gesture range from memory250 thereby determining the updated gesture range as a gesture range inreal time.

In some embodiments, the updated gesture range may be preserved forsubsequent playing of the gesture-based game by identified player 150.By way of example, but not limitation, the gesture range updated bygesture range update unit 270 may be stored in memory 250. If player 150plays a subsequent playing of the gesture-based game, gesture rangedetermination unit 220 may determine the updated gesture range as agesture range. Additional details of an update of the gesture range bygesture range update unit 270 will be provided with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating another example of asafety component for a gesture-based game provided by gesture-based gamesystem 100, arranged in accordance with at least some embodimentsdescribed herein. As depicted, a safety component 300 may includeidentification unit 210, gesture range determination unit 220, detectionunit 230 and gesture range update unit 270. Although illustrated asdiscrete components, various components may be divided into additionalcomponents, combined into fewer components, or eliminated, depending onthe desired implementation.

Identification unit 210 may be configured to identify a type of agesture-based game which is run or executed on gesture-based game system100. In some embodiments, identification unit 210 may identify the typeof the gesture-based game based on a content type of the gesture-basedgame. There may be several content types of the gesture-based game, forexample, but not limited to, a sports game type, a racing game type, amusic/rhythm game type, a role-playing game type, etc. By way ofexample, but not limitation, identification unit 210 may identify atennis game or a boxing game as a sports game type, a car racing game ora bike racing game as a racing game type.

In some embodiments, identification unit 210 may identify the type ofthe gesture-based game based on an identity of the gesture-based game.By way of example, but not limitation, identification unit 210 mayidentify the gesture-based game based on information (for example, butnot limited to, a game ID, a game serial number, and/or gameregistration information) recorded in a storage medium such as a CD, aDVD or a semiconductor memory which stores execution codes of thegesture-based game.

Gesture range determination unit 220 may be configured to determine agesture range. In some embodiments, gesture range determination unit 220may determine the gesture range based on the type of the gesture-basedgame. By way of example, but not limitation, if the identified type ofthe gesture-based game requires a small gesture range (for example, butnot limited to, in case of a racing game type), the determined gesturerange may be relatively small. On the other hand, if the identified typeof the gesture-based game requires a large gesture range (for example,but not limited to, in case of a sports game type), the determinedgesture range may be relatively large.

In some embodiments, if identification unit 210 identifies the type ofthe gesture-based game, gesture range determination unit 220 may receivetype information on the gesture-based game from identification unit 210and determine a gesture range based on the received type information.

In some embodiments, an initially determined gesture range may be adefault gesture range that is associated with the type of the identifiedgesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation, in caseswhere player 150 plays the gesture-based game for the first time, thatis, the gesture-based game is executed for player 150 for the firsttime, gesture range determination unit 220 may determine the defaultgesture range associated with the identified type of the gesture-basedgame as a gesture range of the executed gesture-based game.

Detection unit 230 may be configured to detect a movement of an objectrelative to the gesture range. As discussed above, the object mayinclude, for example, but not limited to, another person such asspectator 160 or another player, a pet, an article or the like otherthan player 150. In some embodiments, detection unit 230 may detect amovement of spectator 160 based on a video signal received from camera120. By way of example, but not limitation, detection unit 230 maydetect a back-and-forth movement of spectator 160 as well as anup-and-down movement and a right-and-left movement thereof as viewedfrom camera 120.

In some embodiments, detection unit 230 may detect a movement and/or alocation of spectator 160 within the gesture range. By way of example,but not limitation, if a part of body (e.g., a hand or an arm) ofspectator 160 enters the gesture range as spectator 160 moves toward thegesture range, detection unit 230 may detect a movement and/or alocation of the entered body of spectator 160 within the gesture range.

In some embodiments, detection unit 230 may track a motion of player 150during the playing of the gesture-based game. The tracked motion may beused to update the gesture range determined by gesture rangedetermination unit 220. Additional details in this regard will beprovided below with reference to gesture range update unit 270.

Gesture range update unit 270 may be configured to update the gesturerange to generate an updated gesture range based on motion of theidentified player 150 during playing of the gesture-based game by theidentified player 150. By way of example, but not limitation, gesturerange update unit 270 may receive a gesture range from gesture rangedetermination unit 220. By way of example, but not limitation, gesturerange update unit 270 may update the gesture range to generate theupdated gesture range based on the motion of player 150 detected bydetection unit 230 and the gesture range received from gesture rangedetermination unit 220. If the detected motion of player 150 exceeds thegesture range received from gesture range determination unit 220,gesture range update unit 270 may extend the gesture range to generatethe updated gesture range.

FIG. 4 schematically shows illustrative examples of determining agesture range, arranged in accordance with at least some embodimentsdescribed herein. As discussed above, gesture range determination unit220 may determine the gesture range associated with the identifiedgesture-based game and/or player 150. The gesture range associated withthe identified gesture-based game and/or player 150 may be determined tohave various shapes. In some embodiments, a gesture range 400 may bedetermined to be a rectangular two-dimensional plane. As depicted inFIG. 4(A), gesture range 400 may be represented by a two-dimensionalCartesian coordinate system including x-axis and y-axis where player 150moves right or left along the x-axis and forward or backward along they-axis. In such embodiments, gesture range 400 may be defined by amaximum right position x(+) 410, a maximum left position x(−) 420, amaximum forward position y(+) 430 and a maximum backward position y(−)440 of player 150 in the two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. Insome embodiments, gesture range 460 may be determined to be a circulartwo-dimensional plane. As depicted in FIG. 4(B), gesture range 460 isdefined by a reference position 470 and a maximum radius 480 of player150 in two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.

Although FIG. 4 illustrates that the gesture range is defined as thetwo-dimensional plane, it is noted that the gesture range may bedetermined to be a three-dimensional volume which may be further definedby, for example, but not limited to, a maximum high position and amaximum low position. Further, although FIG. 4 illustrates that thegesture range is rectangular or circular, it is noted that gesture rangemay be defined as various shapes, e.g., elliptical shape where one axisis more likely than another axis to experience a collision with anobject within gesture range. However, an example in which the gesturerange is defined as a two-dimensional plane will be described below forsimplicity.

Meanwhile, in order to determine a gesture range, gesture rangedetermination unit 220 may set reference positions 450 and 470 ofgesture ranges 400 and 460, respectively. In some embodiments, gesturerange determination unit 220 may set reference positions 450 and 470 ofgesture ranges 400 and 460 based on a current position of player 150. Byway of example, but not limitation, gesture range determination unit 220may set reference positions 450 and 470 of gesture ranges 400 and 460based on the position of player 150 detected by detection unit 230.Gesture range determination unit 220 may determine gesture ranges 400and 460 based on set reference positions 450 and 470.

In some embodiments, gesture range determination unit 220 may setreference positions 450 and 470 of gesture ranges 400 and 460 based onan area detectable by detection unit 230. By way of example, but notlimitation, gesture range determination unit 220 may set referencepositions 450 and 470 of the gesture ranges 400 and 460 based on acenter of an area detectable by detection unit 230 and may determinegesture ranges 400 and 460 based on set reference positions 450 and 470.

FIG. 5 schematically shows an illustrative example of detecting amovement of a spectator, arranged in accordance with at least someembodiments described herein. As depicted in FIG. 5, a gesture range 500is defined by a maximum right position x(+) 510, a maximum left positionx(−) 520, a maximum forward position y(+) 530 and a maximum backwardposition y(−) 540. By way of example, but not limitation, player 150plays a gesture-based game within gesture range 500 and spectator 160watches player 150 playing the game out of gesture range 500.

As discussed above, detection unit 230 may detect a movement ofspectator 160 in the vicinity of player 150. Alarm unit 240 may generatean alarm upon, or in response to, determination that spectator 160 iswithin gesture range 500. By way of example, but not limitation, if apart of body (e.g., a hand or an arm) of spectator 160 enters gesturerange 500 as spectator 160 moves toward gesture range 500, alarm unit240 may generate an alarm.

In some embodiments, detection unit 230 may detect (x, y) coordinates ofspectator 160, where ‘x’ represents position of spectator 160 in thedirection of x-axis and ‘y’ represents position of spectator 160 in thedirection of y-axis in a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. Byway of example, but not limitation, x-axis may be parallel to a linewhere spectator 160 moves in right and left direction and y-axis may beparallel to a line where spectator 160 moves in forward and backwarddirection. By way of example, but not limitation, detection unit 230 maydetect (x, y) coordinates of spectator 160 from a video signal receivedfrom camera 120. Alarm unit 240 may determine whether or not at leastpart of (x, y) coordinates of spectator 160 detected by detection unit230 are within (x, y) coordinates of gesture range 500 determined bygesture range determination unit 220. By way of example, but notlimitation, if alarm unit 240 determines that at least part of (x, y)coordinates of spectator 160 are within (x, y) coordinates of gesturerange 500, alarm unit 240 may give an alarm to player 150 and/orspectator 160.

FIG. 6 schematically shows illustrative examples of updating a gesturerange, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein. By way of example, but not limitation, even if spectator 160 inthe vicinity of player 150 does not enter the determined gesture rangefrom the outside, if player 150 gets out of the determined gesturerange, player 150 may collide with spectator 160. Thus, in order toprevent such a collision, the gesture range needs to be changed.

As discussed above, gesture range update unit 270 may update gesturerange based on the motion of identified player 150 during the playing ofthe gesture-based game by identified player 150. By way of example, butnot limitation, detection unit 230 may track a motion of player 150.Further, if the tracked motion of player 150 exceeds the gesture range,gesture range update unit 270 may extend the gesture range. By way ofexample, but not limitation, the update gesture range may be stored inmemory 250 and read by gesture range determination unit 220.

In some embodiments, gesture range update unit 270 may update at least apart of the gesture range. By way of example, but not limitation, whengesture range 600 is defined by a maximum right position x(+) 610, amaximum left position x(−) 620, a maximum forward position y(+) 630 anda maximum backward position y(−) 640, as depicted in FIG. 6(A), each ofmaximum right position x(+) 610, maximum left position x(−) 620, maximumforward position y(+) 630 and maximum backward position y(−) 640 may beupdated. By way of example, but not limitation, if player 150 moves tothe right and exceeds maximum right position x(+) 610, gesture rangeupdate unit 270 may update only maximum right position x(+) 610 to anextended maximum right position x(+) 612, thereby extending gesturerange 600 to gesture range 602. Consequently, extended gesture range 602has an area extended to the right from gesture range 600.

In some embodiments, gesture range update unit 270 may update the wholegesture range. By way of example, but not limitation, when gesture range660 is defined by a reference position 670 and a maximum radius 680, ifplayer 150 moves to the right and exceeds the gesture range, gesturerange update unit 270 may update maximum radius 680 thereby extendinggesture range 660 to gesture range 662. Consequently, extended gesturerange 662 has an area obtained by extending the whole gesture range 660.

Meanwhile, in some embodiments, the gesture range is not updated if apredetermined condition is satisfied. By way of example, but notlimitation, if player 150 stops playing the gesture-based game or ifplayer 150 is not detected by detection unit 230, the gesture range isnot updated. If the gesture range is updated even when player 150 getsout of the gesture range intentionally to do something else during theplaying of the game, the updated gesture range may become too large.Thus, even if player 150 is away enough from spectator 160 to avoid acollision with spectator 160, alarm unit 240 may generate an alarm toinform player 150 and/or spectator 160 of a risk of the collisionbetween player 150 and spectator 160.

FIG. 7 shows an example flow diagram of a process for generating analarm based on a gesture range and a movement of an object, arranged inaccordance with at least some embodiments described herein. The methodin FIG. 7 could the implemented using safety component 200 includingidentification unit 210, gesture range determination unit 220, detectionunit 230, alarm unit 240, memory 250, training stage unit 260 andgesture range update unit 270, or safety component 300 includingidentification unit 210, gesture range determination unit 220, detectionunit 230 and gesture range update unit 270 discussed above. An exampleprocess may include one or more operations, actions, or functions asillustrated by one or more blocks S700, S710, S720, S730, S740 and/orS750. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may bedivided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Processing maybegin at block S700.

At block S700, a safety component may create a gesture range. By way ofexample, but not limitation, the safety component may request a playerof a gesture-based game to make a game playing motion. Then, the safetycomponent may detect the motion made by the player in response to therequest and then, the safety component may create the gesture rangebased on the detected motion made by the player. By way of example, butnot limitation, the safety component may create the gesture range priorto the playing of the gesture-based game. By way of example, but notlimitation, the gesture range is created during a previous playing ofthe gesture-based game. Processing may continue from block S700 to blockS710.

At block S710, the safety component may identify a playing of agesture-based game. The safety component may identify the playing of thegesture-based game by reading out an execution code of gesture-basedgame which is stored in a storage medium such as a CD, a DVD or asemiconductor memory. In some embodiments, the safety component mayfurther identify the playing gesture-based game and the player who playsthe gesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation, thesafety component may identify a player based on a user ID or an avatarinput to gesture-based game system 100 by the player. Processing maycontinue from block S710 to block S720.

At block S720, the safety component may determine a gesture range. Byway of example, but not limitation, the safety component may determinethe gesture range associated with the identified gesture-based game. Byway of example, but not limitation, if the identified gesture-based gamerequires a small gesture range (for example, but not limited to, in caseof a car racing game), the determined gesture range may be relativelysmall. Similarly, if the identified gesture-based game requires a largegesture range (for example, but not limited to, in case of a sports gamesuch as a tennis game, a boxing game or a bowling game), the determinedgesture range may be relatively large. In some embodiments, the gesturerange is a default gesture range that is associated with the identifiedgesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation, the safetycomponent may determine the gesture range associated with a specificplayer, who is identified at block S710. Processing may continue fromblock S720 to block S730.

At block S730, the safety component may detect a movement of an object.By way of example, but not limitation, the safety component may detectthe movement of the object during the playing of the gesture-based game.By way of example, but not limitation, the safety component may detect aback-and-forth movement of the object as well as an up-and-down movementand a right-and-left movement thereof as viewed from camera 120.Processing may continue from block S730 to block S740.

At block S740, the safety component may determine whether the objectmoves into the gesture range. By way of example, but not limitation, thesafety component may determine whether the object moves into the gesturerange during the playing of the gesture-based game. If the object movesinto the gesture range, processing may continue from block S740 to blockS750. Otherwise, processing may continue from block S740 back to blockS730.

At block S750, the safety component may generate an alarm. By way ofexample, but not limitation, the safety component may generate the alarmwhen determining the object moves into the gesture range during theplaying of the gesture-based game. By way of example, but notlimitation, the safety component may generate the alarm by displaying avisible warning message on a display and/or producing an audible warningmessage through a speaker. By way of example, but not limitation, thesafety component may generate the alarm by terminating the playing ofthe gesture-based game.

FIG. 8 shows an example flow diagram of a process for updating a gesturerange based on a tracked motion of a player, arranged in accordance withat least some embodiments described herein. The method in FIG. 8 couldbe implemented using safety component 200 including identification unit210, gesture range determination unit 220, detection unit 230, alarmunit 240, memory 250, training stage unit 260 and gesture range updateunit 270, or safety component 300 including identification unit 210,gesture range determination unit 220, detection unit 230 and gesturerange update unit 270 discussed above. An example process may includeone or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one ormore of blocks S800, S810, S820 and/or S830. Although illustrated asdiscrete blocks, various blocks may be divided into additional blocks,combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desiredimplementation. Processing may begin at block S800.

At block S800, a safety component may identify a playing of agesture-based game. The safety component may identify the playing of thegesture-based game by reading out an execution code of gesture-basedgame which is stored in a storage medium such as a CD, a DVD or asemiconductor memory. By way of example, but not limitation, the safetycomponent may further identify the playing gesture-based game and theplayer who plays the gesture-based game. Processing may continue fromblock S800 to block S810.

At block S810, the safety component may determine a gesture range. Thesafety component may determine a gesture range associated with theidentified gesture-based game and the identified player. By way ofexample, but not limitation, if the identified gesture-based game is adynamic sport games such as a boxing game and the identified player istall, the determined gesture range may be large. Processing may continuefrom block S810 to block S820.

At block S820, the safety component may track a motion of the player. Byway of example, but not limitation, the safety component may track amotion of the player during a playing of the gesture-based game. By wayof example, but not limitation, the safety component may detect (x, y)coordinates of the player, where ‘x’ represents position of the playerin the direction of x-axis and ‘y’ represents position of the player inthe direction of y-axis in a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinatesystem. By way of example, but not limitation, x-axis may be parallel toa line where the player moves to the right and/or left direction andy-axis may be parallel to a line where the player moves to the forwardand/or backward direction. Processing may continue from block S820 toblock S830.

At block S830, the safety component may update the gesture range. By wayof example, but not limitation, the safety component may update thegesture range to generate the updated gesture range based on the trackedmotion of the player. By way of example, but not limitation, the safetycomponent may extend the gesture range if the tracked motion of theplayer exceeds the gesture range. By way of example, but not limitation,the safety component may update at least a part of the gesture range.

FIG. 9 shows an example flow diagram of a process for warning a playerin response to detecting an object within a gesture range, arranged inaccordance with at least some embodiments described herein. The methodin FIG. 9 could be implemented using safety component 200 includingidentification unit 210, gesture range determination unit 220, detectionunit 230, alarm unit 240, memory 250, training stage unit 260 andgesture range update unit 270, or safety component 300 includingidentification unit 210, gesture range determination unit 220, detectionunit 230 and gesture range update unit 270 discussed above. An exampleprocess may include one or more operations, actions, or functions asillustrated by one or more blocks S900, S910, S920 and/or S930. Althoughillustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may be divided intoadditional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, dependingon the desired implementation. Processing may begin at block S900.

At block S900, the safety component may identify an identity of agesture-based game. By way of example, but not limitation, the safetycomponent may identify the identity of the gesture-based game beingplayed on a gesture-based game system 100. In some embodiments, thesafety component may identify the identity of the gesture-based game byreading out a game ID, a game serial number, and/or game registrationinformation, etc. of the gesture-based game, which are stored in astorage medium such as a CD, a DVD or a semiconductor memory. Processingmay continue from block S900 to block S910.

At block S910, the safety component may determine a gesture range. Byway of example, but not limitation, the safety component may determinethe gesture range of a player associated with the identifiedgesture-based game based on the identity of the gesture-based game. Byway of example, but not limitation, if the identified identity of thegesture-based game requires a small gesture range (for example, but notlimited to, in case of a car racing game), the determined gesture rangemay be relatively small. Similarly, if the identified identity of thegesture-based game requires a large gesture range (for example, but notlimited to, in case of a sports game such as a tennis game, a boxinggame or a bowling game), the determined gesture range may be relativelylarge. In some embodiments, the gesture range is a default gesture rangethat is associated with the identified identity of the gesture-basedgame. Processing may continue from block S910 to block S920.

At block S920, the safety component may update the gesture range. By wayof example, but not limitation, the safety component may update thegesture range to generate an updated gesture range associated with amotion of the player. In some embodiments, the safety component maytrack the motion of the player. By way of example, but not limitation,the safety component may detect (x, y) coordinates of the player, where‘x’ represents position of the player in the direction of x-axis and ‘y’represents position of the player in the direction of y-axis in atwo-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. By way of example, but notlimitation, x-axis may be parallel to a line where the player moves tothe right and/or left direction and y-axis may be parallel to a linewhere the player moves to the forward and/or backward direction. In someembodiments, the safety component may update the gesture range based onthe motion of the player. By way of example, but not limitation, thesafety component may extend the gesture range if the tracked motion ofthe player exceeds the gesture range. By way of example, but notlimitation, the safety component may update at least a part of thegesture range. Processing may continue from block S920 to block S930.

At block S930, the safety component may warn the player. By way ofexample, but not limitation, the safety component may warn the player inresponse to detecting a location and/or a movement of an object withinthe gesture range. In some embodiments, the safety component may detectwhether the location and/or the movement of the object is within thegesture range. By way of example, but not limitation, if safetycomponent detects the location and/or the movement of the object withinthe gesture range, the safety component may warn the player. In someembodiments, the safety component may warn the player with at least oneof a visual alert or an auditory alert when detecting the location ofthe object within the gesture range. By way of example, but notlimitation, the safety component may generate the alarm by displaying avisible warning message on a display and/or producing an audible warningmessage through a speaker. By way of example, but not limitation, thesafety component may generate the alarm by terminating the playing ofthe gesture-based game.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this and otherprocesses and methods disclosed herein, the functions performed in theprocesses and methods may be implemented in differing order.Furthermore, the outlined steps and operations are only provided asexamples, and some of the steps and operations may be optional, combinedinto fewer steps and operations, or expanded into additional steps andoperations without detracting from the essence of the disclosedembodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a computer program product 1000 that can be utilizedto provide a safety scheme for a gesture-based game, arranged inaccordance with at least some embodiments described herein. Programproduct 1000 may include a signal bearing medium 1002. Signal bearingmedium 1002 may include one or more instructions 1004 that, whenexecuted by, for example, a processor, may provide the functionalitydescribed above with respect to FIGS. 1-9. By way of example,instructions 1004 may include: one or more instructions for determininga gesture range of a player of a gesture-based game; one or moreinstructions for detecting a position of an object in the vicinity ofthe player during the playing of the gesture-based game; or one or moreinstructions for generating an alert upon determining that the positionof the object is within the gesture range. Thus, for example, referringto FIG. 2, safety component 200 may undertake one or more of the blocksshown in FIG. 7 in response to instructions 1004.

In some implementations, signal bearing medium 1002 may encompass acomputer-readable medium 1006, such as, but not limited to, a hard diskdrive, a CD, a DVD), a digital tape, memory, etc. In someimplementations, signal bearing medium 1002 may encompass a recordablemedium 1008, such as, but not limited to, memory, read/write (RAY) CDs,R/W DVDs, etc. In some implementations, signal bearing medium 1002 mayencompass a communications medium 1010, such as, but not limited to, adigital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber opticcable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wirelesscommunication link, etc.). Thus, for example, program product 1000 maybe conveyed to one or more modules of safety component 200 by an RFsignal bearing medium 1002, where the signal bearing medium 1002 isconveyed by a wireless communications medium 1010 (e.g., a wirelesscommunications medium conforming with the IEEE 802.11 standard).

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing device 1100that can be utilized to provide a safety scheme for a gesture-basedgame, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein. In a very basic configuration 1102, computing device 1100typically includes one or more processors 1104 and a system memory 1106.A memory bus 1108 may be used for communicating between processor 1104and system memory 1106.

Depending on the desired configuration, processor 1104 may be of anytype including but not limited to a microprocessor (μP), amicrocontroller (μC), a digital signal processor (DSP), or anycombination thereof. Processor 1104 may include one or more levels ofcaching, such as a level one cache 1110 and a level two cache 1112, aprocessor core 1114, and registers 1116. An example processor core 1114may include an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a floating point unit (FPU),a digital signal processing core (DSP Core), or any combination thereof.An example memory controller 1118 may also be used with processor 1104,or in some implementations memory controller 1118 may be an internalpart of processor 1104.

Depending on the desired configuration, system memory 1106 may be of anytype including but not limited to volatile memory (such as RAM),non-volatile memory (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or any combinationthereof. System memory 1106 may include an operating system 1120, one ormore applications 1122, and program data 1124.

Computing device 1100 may have additional features or functionality, andadditional interfaces to facilitate communications between basicconfiguration 1102 and any required devices and interfaces. For example,a bus/interface controller 1130 may be used to facilitate communicationsbetween basic configuration 1102 and one or more data storage devices1132 via a storage interface bus 1134. Data storage devices 1132 may beremovable storage devices 1136, non-removable storage devices 1138, or acombination thereof. Examples of removable storage and non-removablestorage devices include magnetic disk devices such as flexible diskdrives and hard-disk drives (HDD), optical disk drives such as compactdisk (CD) drives or digital versatile disk (DVD) drives, solid statedrives (SSD), and tape drives to name a few. Example computer storagemedia may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removablemedia implemented in any method or technology for storage ofinformation, such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data.

System memory 1106, removable storage devices 1136 and non-removablestorage devices 1138 are examples of computer storage media. Computerstorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other mediumwhich may be used to store the desired information and which may beaccessed by computing device 1100. Any such computer storage media maybe part of computing device 1100.

Computing device 1100 may also include an interface bus 1140 forfacilitating communication from various interface devices (e.g., outputdevices 1142, peripheral interfaces 1144, and communication devices1146) to basic configuration 1102 via bus/interface controller 1130.Example output devices 1142 include a graphics processing unit 1148 andan audio processing unit 1150, which may be configured to communicate tovarious external devices such as a display or speakers via one or moreA/V ports 1152. Example peripheral interfaces 1144 include a serialinterface controller 1154 or a parallel interface controller 1156, whichmay be configured to communicate with external devices such as inputdevices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch inputdevice, etc.) or other peripheral devices (e.g., printer, scanner, etc.)via one or more I/O ports 1158. An example communication device 1146includes a network controller 1160, which may be arranged to facilitatecommunications with one or more other computing devices 1162 over anetwork communication link via one or more communication ports 1164.

The network communication link may be one example of a communicationmedia. Communication media may typically be embodied by computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other datain a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and may include any information delivery media. A “modulateddata signal” may be a signal that has one or more of its characteristicsset or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal.By way of example, and not limitation, communication media may includewired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, andwireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), microwave,infrared (IR) and other wireless media. The term computer readable mediaas used herein may include both storage media and communication media.

Computing device 1100 may be implemented as a portion of a small-formfactor portable (or mobile) electronic device such as a cell phone, apersonal data assistant (PDA), a personal media player device, awireless web-watch device, a personal headset device, an applicationspecific device, or a hybrid device that include any of the abovefunctions. Computing device 1100 may also be implemented as a personalcomputer including both laptop computer and non-laptop computerconfigurations.

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparentto those skilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods andapparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to thoseenumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from theforegoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intendedto fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosureis to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along withthe full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It isto be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particularmethods, reagents, compounds, compositions or biological systems, whichcan, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminologyused herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodimentsonly, and is not intended to be limiting.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of theappended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one”or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articlesused to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specificnumber of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at leasttwo recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in thoseinstances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C,etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the senseone having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “asystem having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not belimited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” wouldinclude but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those withinthe art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting twoor more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, ordrawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities ofincluding one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. Forexample, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include thepossibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are describedin terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individualmember or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and allpurposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, allranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subrangesand combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easilyrecognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range beingbroken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths,tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein canbe readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third,etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all languagesuch as “up to,” “at least,” and the like include the number recited andrefer to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges asdiscussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in theart, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a grouphaving 1-3 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, agroup having 1-5 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells,and so forth.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments ofthe present disclosure have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, and that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intendedto be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a detection unitconfigured to: detect a range of motion of a player associated with agesture-based game, and detect a movement of an object; anidentification unit configured to: identify the gesture-based game, andprovide information associated with the identified gesture-based game toa training stage unit; the training stage unit configured to: receivethe detected range of motion of the player, wherein the detected rangeof motion is in at least a horizontal plane from the detection unit,receive the information associated with the identified gesture-basedgame, and determine a gesture range of the player based on at least thereceived detected range of motion and the information associated withthe identified gesture-based game, wherein the determined gesture rangeof the player identifies a maximum radius of the player; and an alarmunit configured to generate an alarm in response to a determination thatthe movement of the object is within the determined gesture range. 2.The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a gesture range update unitconfigured to update the determined gesture range to generate an updatedgesture range based on gameplay motion of the player of thegesture-based game.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the updatedgesture range is preserved for subsequent playing of the gesture-basedgame by the player.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising agesture range determination unit configured to determine a defaultgesture range that is associated with the gesture-based game.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the determined gesture range is determinedduring a training stage of the gesture-based game.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 5, wherein the training stage precedes playing the gesture-basedgame.
 7. A method comprising: detecting a range of motion of a playerassociated with a gesture-based game; identifying the gesture-basedgame; providing information associated with the identified gesture-basedgame; determining a gesture range of the player based on at least thedetected range of motion of the player and the information associatedwith the identified gesture-based game, wherein the detected range ofmotion is in at least a horizontal plane, and wherein the determinedgesture range of the player identifies a maximum radius of the player;detecting a movement of an object during playing of the gesture-basedgame; determining that the object has moved into the determined gesturerange during the playing of the gesture-based game; and generating analert in response to the determining that the object has moved into thedetermined gesture range during the playing of the gesture-based game.8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: tracking a motion of theplayer during the playing of the gesture-based game; and updating thedetermined gesture range based on the tracked motion of the player. 9.The method of claim 7, further comprising requesting the player of thegesture-based game to make a game playing motion.
 10. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the determining the gesture range of the player isperformed prior to the playing of the gesture-based game.
 11. The methodof claim 7, further comprising storing a previously determined gesturerange from a previous playing of the gesture-based game.
 12. The methodof claim 7, wherein the generating the alert includes displaying awarning message.
 13. The method of claim 7, wherein the generating thealert includes terminating the playing of the gesture-based game. 14.The method of claim 7, further comprising identifying, by a safetycomponent of a gesture-based game system, the playing of thegesture-based game.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, inresponse to execution, cause a system to perform operations, comprising:detecting a range of motion of a player associated with a gesture-basedgame; identifying the gesture-based game; providing informationassociated with the identified gesture-based game; determining a gesturerange of the player based on at least the detected range of motion ofthe player and the information associated with the identifiedgesture-based game, wherein the detected range of motion is in at leasta horizontal plane, and wherein the determined gesture range of theplayer identifies a maximum radius of the player; detecting a positionof an object in a vicinity of the player during playing of thegesture-based game; and generating an alert in response to determiningthat the position of the object is within the determined gesture range.16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15,wherein the determining the gesture range includes determining thegesture range prior to the playing of the gesture-based game.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, furthercomprising storing a previous gesture range from a prior playing of thegesture-based game.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 15, the operations further comprising: tracking a gameplaying motion of the player; and updating the determined gesture rangeaccording to the game playing motion of the player.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, theoperations further comprising identifying, by a safety component, theplaying of the gesture-based game.
 20. A system, comprising: means fordetecting a range of motion of a player associated with a gesture-basedgame; means for identifying the gesture-based game; means for providinginformation associated with the identified gesture-based game; means fordetermining a gesture range of the player based on at least the detectedrange of motion of the player and the information associated with theidentified gesture-based game, wherein the detected range of motion isin at least a horizontal plane, and wherein the determined gesture rangeof the player identifies a maximum radius of the player; means fordetermining that an object is located within the determined gesturerange during playing of the gesture-based game; and means for generatingan alert in response to an output from the means for determiningindicating that the object is located within the determined gesturerange.
 21. The system of claim 20, further comprising means foridentifying the playing of the gesture-based game.
 22. An apparatus,comprising: an identification unit configured to identify agesture-based game and a player; a gesture range determination unitconfigured to: determine a gesture range of the identified player basedon at least the identified gesture-based game and body dimensioninformation associated with the player, wherein the determined gesturerange of the player identifies a maximum radius of the player; and adetection unit configured to detect a movement of an object relative tothe gesture range.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising agesture range. update unit configured to update the determined gesturerange to generate an updated gesture range based on motion of theidentified player during playing of the gesture-based game by theidentified player.
 24. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising agesture range determination configured to determine a default gesturerange that is associated with a type of the gesture-based game.
 25. Amethod, comprising: identifying a player and an identity of agesture-based game being played by the identified player on agesture-based game system; determining a gesture range of the identifiedplayer based on at least the identified gesture-based game and bodydimension information associated with the player, wherein the determinedgesture range of the player identifies a maximum radius of the player;and warning the identified player with at least one of a visual alert oran auditory alert in response to detecting a location of an objectwithin the gesture range.
 26. The method of claim 25, furthercomprising: tracking a motion of the identified player; and updating thegesture range based on the tracked motion of the identified player. 27.An apparatus comprising: a detection unit configured to: detect a rangeof motion of a player associated with a gesture-based game, and detect amovement of an object; an identification unit configured to: identifythe gesture-based game, and provide information associated with theidentified gesture-based game to a training stage unit; the trainingstage unit configured to: receive the detected range of motion of theplayer in at least a horizontal plane from the detection unit, receivethe information associated with the identified gesture-based game, anddetermine a gesture range of the player based on at least a center of anarea detectable by the detection unit and the received informationassociated with the identified gesture-based game; and an alarm unitconfigured to generate an alarm in response to a determination that themovement of the object is within the determined gesture range.